That is quite true, though Bobby made the same mistake letting BJK win! She was way too smart to give him a rematch even though he pushed for it really hard!

Click to expand...

Very true. There was quite alot of skeptism regarding the outcome of that 2nd Battle of the Sexes. I have watched it several times and it just does not look like Riggs was hitting the ball. He was hitting floaters for BJK to volley away.

Very true. There was quite alot of skeptism regarding the outcome of that 2nd Battle of the Sexes. I have watched it several times and it just does not look like Riggs was hitting the ball. He was hitting floaters for BJK to volley away.

Click to expand...

I agree. The match was really before my time, but when I got to watch it, having played and coached at a pretty high level, it took about a 20 seconds before, I thought, WTH is this? It's....in the intent...of the shots, the types of shots, the subtlies of the strokes and the points. Riggs was definitely working the match. When you consider what he did to Court, it makes even less sense, if you believe he was really trying to win.

I recall watching Seles and Davenport watch the match for the first time, at one point, it was very subtle, so it wasn't edited out Seles blurted out "OOH, he gave it to her!" then she was immediatly embarrassed and looked at Davenport and they both started giggling, over her actually saying it. Now, that could be taken to mean many things, but I think Seles and Davenport could both see it to.

I am pretty sure, that Riggs was planning to lose, then get the final win/payout at the rematch. He was said to have pushed for this hard over the years, but King would have none of it, she was working her "win" for her agenda.

I also remember on Riggs deathbed, he whispered to King "we did it, didn't we". I tend to think this was also acknowledgement of the impact of the match, by that point, Riggs, had come to realize that he was not going to get his rematch but was happy that his friend |BJK had been able to get so much out of it.

A colleague of mine spent some time with Riggs in his later years. He noted that Riggs loved to bet. On anything: "I'll race you to that door for a dollar." So he asked what so many people wondered: "Did you bet on BJK and throw the match?" Riggs said no, but that what few people knew was that he was really sick that day: throwing up, weak, etc. He would never have played an ordinary ex in that condition, but there had been so much hype, and so much was riding on it, that there was no backing out.

I can vouch for my colleague; he's a serious dude. I can't vouch for what Riggs, a noted prankster who had surely been asked that question enough to get tired of it, said to him. Interesting story, though, and I've never seen it in print.

A colleague of mine spent some time with Riggs in his later years. He noted that Riggs loved to bet. On anything: "I'll race you to that door for a dollar." So he asked what so many people wondered: "Did you bet on BJK and throw the match?" Riggs said no, but that what few people knew was that he was really sick that day: throwing up, weak, etc. He would never have played an ordinary ex in that condition, but there had been so much hype, and so much was riding on it, that there was no backing out.

I can vouch for my colleague; he's a serious dude. I can't vouch for what Riggs, a noted prankster who had surely been asked that question enough to get tired of it, said to him. Interesting story, though, and I've never seen it in print.

Click to expand...

Interesting! I had not heard that one before. Whether or not it's true (and maybe Riggs was still "working" your friend, even then!), it still looked to me like he was doing some intentional sandbagging. But, who knows, maybe Riggs really didn't plan that and truly was terribly sick.

I think the Court "Mother's Day Massacre" actually hurt Riggs. He basically did nothing but promote the King match and according to all reports didn't touch a tennis racquet. Court was psyched out by Riggs, King wasn't. Had Riggs practiced and taken his tennis seriously would it have mde a difference? Probably not, but it would have been closer.

Wish I understood what was said during post match interview, especially if anything Bammer said about playing against Muster. She seemed to be quite able to deal with Muster heavy shots, spin, pace, etc.

Wish I understood what was said during post match interview, especially if anything Bammer said about playing against Muster. She seemed to be quite able to deal with Muster heavy shots, spin, pace, etc.

Click to expand...

Well, she was basically all over the place against a 42-year old. I think the games she won were kind of a courtesy of Muster not to make the scoreline too harsch.

My understanding of German is more or less okay.lThough I don't speak it well at all, as I speak Dutch fluently, I can understand it quite well. Bammer said in the post match interview that balls hit by men jump off the court a lot more. So she did have a lot of problems with that according to her own words.

It was really strange to see Muster laughing and joking around on the court since he was so intense when he was playing the tour. Also, he's lost weight since the picture a while ago of him golfing, but he's still awfully out of shape. He still hits the ball with fantastic spin, though.

Im really curious what the appearance money was for the players ?
Im sure that many in the WTA advised Bammer not to play the match.
Maybe Serena should attempt a rematch to again save face for the WTA like BJK did after the BOTS 1

Exactly. From the few points I saw it looked like he was dropping the ball relatively short too. Maybe taking it easy a bit?

Click to expand...

Definitely taking it a bit easy/casual. I'm sure he could do more even now. He drove some balls, and he was never the most powerful guy(though sometimes it almost looked like it with his theatrical grunts and swings), but of course, when he was on tour, he hit almost every ball with all his might! This was nowhere near that level of pace and spin.

Partly though, he was just pacing himself, clearly winded at moments, if he swung like he did when he was in his prime, he'd probably have a coronary in the first game!

Definitely taking it a bit easy/casual. I'm sure he could do more even now. He drove some balls, and he was never the most powerful guy(though sometimes it almost looked like it with his theatrical grunts and swings), but of course, when he was on tour, he hit almost every ball with all his might! This was nowhere near that level of pace and spin.

Partly though, he was just pacing himself, clearly winded at moments, if he swung like he did when he was in his prime, he'd probably have a coronary in the first game!

Click to expand...

He probably was making sure he won by pacing himself and didn't work too hard instead of trying to make the score look bad and maybe exhausting himself before the end of the match.

Should be an easy call....
Muster at 43 and "out of shape" is easily a 6.0 Mens.
Bammer at her absolute best is 7.0 Women.
No way one level evens things out. You'd need either an 8.0 woman or a 5.0 mens to make the match about even.
As a 3.5 Mens, I could hold my own against some then A and OpenWomen, and I wasn't allowed to serve hard OR S/V. OR dropshot.

Should be an easy call....
Muster at 43 and "out of shape" is easily a 6.0 Mens.
Bammer at her absolute best is 7.0 Women.
No way one level evens things out. You'd need either an 8.0 woman or a 5.0 mens to make the match about even.
As a 3.5 Mens, I could hold my own against some then A and OpenWomen, and I wasn't allowed to serve hard OR S/V. OR dropshot.

Click to expand...

I think your taking it way too far ... a mens 3.5 would not be able to even rally with an Open level lady and probably not even get many games off a good High School girl unless he had a big serve.

My perception, not taking it far at all....
As a 3.5 (that year, 2 C or 3.5, tourneys, first lost in finals, second won), my regular practice partners included PeaLouie, Marcie, SuzanBrown of Oakland and DanaGilbert of Piedmont. My regular doubles partner was #1 for CCSF, who was a solid B or 4.5 player. Our group included several solid top 10 B players, and one lefty A.
The girls were all acknowledged A or Open Womens. That would be 2 full levels above me.
MarcieLouie had won the CanadianOpen that year, her little sis Pea won it 2 years later. Both were easy 6.5 Women at the time I practiced with them.

My perception, not taking it far at all....
As a 3.5 (that year, 2 C or 3.5, tourneys, first lost in finals, second won), my regular practice partners included PeaLouie, Marcie, SuzanBrown of Oakland and DanaGilbert of Piedmont. My regular doubles partner was #1 for CCSF, who was a solid B or 4.5 player. Our group included several solid top 10 B players, and one lefty A.
The girls were all acknowledged A or Open Womens. That would be 2 full levels above me.
MarcieLouie had won the CanadianOpen that year, her little sis Pea won it 2 years later. Both were easy 6.5 Women at the time I practiced with them.

Click to expand...

So you are claiming that as a good 3.5 player you could compete with these ex tour level women players that hit with you ?
Are your sure they were not playing social tennis with you